Exegetical Reflections

I was talking to my Hebrew class, and they commented that I had not posted in a while. Here is another Hebrew diagram from the Psalter. Nothing specific to point out, but these diagrams continue to show clear parallelism (e.g. v. 2 [1]) and chiasm (e.g. v. 10 [9]), among other things.
Psalm 6 Diagram

I had a chance to teach on Proverbs 2 this week. Here is my Hebrew diagram:

Proverbs 2

And here is the teaching outline I gave out:

The Way of Wisdom

Looking at my diagram for Psalm 5, the literary technique that stands out to me is chiasm. I’ve tried to make this evident by showing the parallel parts of the verse(s).

Psalm 5

Also, since this is the first occurrence of the term chesed in the Psalter, I thought I would provide a short handout I use to talk about this important word. Nothing fancy, just a short analysis with the verses provided (in English).

Use of Hesed in the Psalter

Besides being an example of how psalms are closely related in their context (see the connections to Psalm 3, of which I provided a comparison in the last post), I believe Psalm 4 demonstrates how repetition of key words help structure and understand the psalm more effectively. The diagram has these highlighted, and I’ll let you come to your own conclusions about their significance in showing the confidence that the psalmist has in Yahweh.

Psalm 4

I am in the midst of teaching a course on Psalms. Although it is an English-Bible based class, I have been active in diagramming and working with the Hebrew text. This is with a view to using some of this in teaching Hebrew exegesis in the future. I thought I might use this blog to share some of these diagrams. This may be profitable to those who read, teach, and preach the Hebrew Bible.

I have basically approached the psalm in a two-fold manner: (1) trying to use a diagram to discern the structure of the text as well as any other features (chiasm, inclusio, etc.) that the text may demonstrate and (2) demonstrating the contribution of both the masora parva and the critical apparatus. Moreover, on some occasions (like this one) I intend to show how some psalms relate to one another. If you don’t read Hebrew (or if your copy of the Hebrew text that you bought in Seminary still creaks when you open it), this may not be much help, but it is provided with the greatest of intentions. Here’s the document…I would love to have some feedback.

Psalm 3